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MS-95
1. What is problem definition in research process? Discuss the various
steps of research process with an illustrative example from
management.

Ans: Problem definition in research process: In research process, we should

understand what type of problem we are facing. Suppose in a particular
case we want to know which mail piece be employed. Your decision
may be to use either direct mail piece A or direct mail piece B. The
researcher should atleast verify that these are the only two options
open to you. Should other mail pieces be considered? Should methods
other than direct mail be, employed? Should a combination of A and B
be used? Let us assume that the alternatives have been correctly
specified: either A or B will be employed.

Various steps of research process: Research process involves the five

important steps-problem definition, research design, data collection,
data analysis, and interpretation of results.

(i) Problem definition: We have identified the alternatives

available to you, but we have not specified a complete problem
definition. The complete problem is also concerned with the criterion
that will determine which mailing is superior. The criterion may be the
rupee value of the sales generated, number of persons placing orders,
or perhaps some definition of profitability from sales generated. The
definition of problem is composed of three aspects:

(a) The specification of the unit of analysis for the study.

(b) The identification of the particular units within the scope of the
study.

(c) The specification of the kind of information sought concerning those

units.

What would Making you like to know if information were free and
without error? A complete answer to this question defines the initial
research problem. It may later be refined and redefined because of
cost or time considerations or because of measurement difficulties, but
it establishes a starting point.

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(ii) Research design: The second step in research is the research

design-the blue print for the research. The basic issues
addressed in research design are:

(aa) Should the research environment be internally disturbed by

the researcher in specified ways-an experimental design-or
should the environment be studied as it exists without such
disturbances? In our example of the mail order firm, an
experimental design is required if the manager is to use mail
piece A for one group and mail piece B for the second. A non
experimental design would require finding past examples in
which A and B had been applied-a most unlikely occurrence,
particularly for the population defined.

(ab) How many observations should be made on each unit in

the study? when?

(ac) Should a single sample be chosen from the total population

or should a series of samples be chosen from various
subgroups of the population?

(ad) Should a probability or non-probability sampling procedure

be adopted for the study?

(iii) Data collection: The next step in the research is the collection
of relevant data. Collection involves the basic definitions for the
concepts to be investigated, specific wordings of inquiries to
communicate those concepts, delineation of the environment in which
the data will be collected, specific field procedures, and the design of
instruments for recording the actual data. Data collection looks forward
to data analysis; data requirements for various analytical techniques
must be anticipated in the data collection phase. Special care must be
taken in the collection phase to avoid sources of understatement or
overstatement for the various characteristics. If such biases are feared,
the researcher should consider whether there are ways of introducing
adjustments. These adjustments would be introduced in the analysis
phase, but the data must be generated in the collection phase.

The collection phase must consider the diverse tasks of assignment

and recruitment of staff, ways of increasing response rates, costs and
bias sources under alternative collection approaches, and proper
training of personnel. The effect of each of these on accuracy,
monetary costs, and time constraints must be evaluated. Finally, the
collection phase must be supervised as well as planned. Unfortunately,
many well-planned research projects have failed because of
inadequate supervision. Procedures which sound good but are
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inadequately administered lead to invalid results just as much as ill-

conceived procedures do. The "operational definition" is a must in any
scientific inquiry and is most obvious in the collection phase. The
operational definition is the nitty-gritty of how the details of collection,
measurement, and wording are to be handled in the research. It is the
practical counter part of the concept developed for the decision maker's
action problem and includes a variety of issues. The issues to be
handled include the use of check responses versus open-ended
questions, the number of alternatives offered to the respondent, and
whether the respondent is to choose the alternative or whether he or
she may select several. Good research demands unambiguous terms.
Care must be exercised in the use of modifying adjectives or adverbs.
The addition or deletion of a single word can produce drastically
different results without clarifying the meaning of those results.

(iv) Data analysis: In this stage the data collected are processed in
order to summarise the results, whether they may be statements with
respect to single characteristic or relationship among characteristics.
Data analysis seeks to determine how the units covered in the research
project respond to the items under investigation. This may be for
individual questions or it may be for sets of questions seeking to
discern whether any patterns exist.

In our example the mail order firm has defined the decision: the use of
either A or B. In this situation, if the data were available the manager
would simply determine the sum of sales over the 5000 individuals with
each mailing piece - a most elementary analytic process. Alternatively,
the manager could have subdivided the population in the research
design in order to study possible differences by market segments. The
same type of comparison would be required, but the comparison would
be for various subgroups rather than for the entire population.

The manger might also wonder whether certain types of individuals are
better prospects than others. Information must be obtained from each
unit in the study for those characteristics that the manager
hypothesizes are indicators of the better prospects. The data must then
be analysed in a manner that is satisfactory for testing the hypothesis.
This can be further complicated by asking whether some individuals
are "good" prospects regardless of which mailing piece is used,
whether others are "good" prospects with only one of the mailing
pieces, and finally whether others are not "good" prospects with either
mailing piece. This rephrasing will have substantial implications for both
data collection and analysis.

(v) Interpretation of results: Interpretation of results is the "so

what?" of research. Research is wasted and useless unless it
influences actions. It seems elementary to say that research results
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must have relevance for the decision to be made. We state it only

because it is ignored so much in practice.

Not only must the results be interpreted into action recommendations

but the recommendations must also be communicated to the executive
in an understandable manner. It is not enough that the executive
comprehend the recommendation; the communication must instil
confidence that the recommendation is justified. Technical jargons
should be avoided except when absolutely essential. Results should be
presented in as simple a manner as possible. If the researcher cannot
make the results comprehensible to the executive the researcher may
not have sufficient understanding of the problem to warrant adoption of
the recommendation.

2. What is a Thurstone’s Equal – Appearing Interval Scale? What are its

objectives? Discuss the advantages and Limitations of Thurstone’s
Equal-Appearing Interval Scale.

Ans: Thurstone’s Equal – Appearing Interval Scale: It is the interval scale

is used for the measurement of attitudes. in this interval statements are
collected which can be used for measuring attitude. In this scale we are
interested in scaling respondents and not statements. The first step in
the scale construction is to scale the attitude statements along the
attitude continuum. This is done by asking some "judges" to evaluate
the items along some continuum.

The statements are printed on some cards and the judges are asked to
sort the statements into 11 groups. The extreme piles represent the
most favourable and the most unfavourable statements. The judges
are expected to make the intervals between the groups equal. The
mean rating by judges is taken as the scale point for each item. Items
which are found to be ambiguous or irrelevant are dropped. The items
selected for the final scale are such that

(a) Each item has a small standard deviation of ratings over judges
and

(b) The mean ratings spread evenly from one end of the rating
continuum to the other.

The selected items are listed in a random order to form the final scale.

The administration of the scale for the measurement of the attitude of a

respondent needs the latter to mark only the items with which he/she
agrees. The score for the respondent then is taken as the scale value
of the median item endorsed or the average scale value of the items
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endorsed. For instance, suppose a respondent agrees with items which

have scale values as 9, 10, and 11. This would imply that he has a
favourable attitude to the object (assuming that score of 11 implies
most positive attitude.

The Thurstone scales are prepared with an odd number of positions,

the usual number being 11. The scale has some drawbacks such as
the time requirement being fairly high, the influencing of scale positions
by the attitudes of the judges, and no information on the degree or
intensity of agreement with the different items.

3. In order to increase their efficiency, one group of operators was

imparted classroom training, and the other group was provided on the
job training. After the training, the times to complete a certain job in
minutes, was recorded for both the groups, the data recorded is given
in the following table.

Class room On job training

training
Operator Time Operator Time
No. No.
1 35 1 85
2 39 2 28
3 51 3 42
4 63 4 37
5 48 5 61
6 31 6 54
7 29 7 36
8 41 8 57
9 55

Test whether both the methods of imparting training are equally

effective.

Ans: Class room training contains 9 operators and on job training contains 8
operators.

Since these two sample observations are independent, we use Mann-

Whitney U test to test the hypothesis (H0) that the samples belong to
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equally effective. We pool both the samples and rank them. This is
done as follows

Time 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 85
8 9 1 5 6 7 9 1 2 8 1 4 5 7 1 3
Type O C C C O O C C O C C O C O O C O
of
training

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 17
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

We shall consider the sum of the ranks of elements of class room

training. Thus we have R1 = 74.

U = n1n2 + - R1

=9x9+ – 74 = 126 – 74 = 52

E(U) = = = 36

S.D.(U) = = = 10.39

Z= = = 1.54

At 5 percent significance, the critical value of Z is 1.96. As the

calculated value of Z is less than the critical value, the null hypothesis
is accepted. Thus, the both types of training are equally effective.

4. Write short notes on the following

(a) Decision making unit

(b) Type I & II Error

(c) Latin Square design

(d) Copy reading of the reports preparation

Ans: (a) Decision making unit: Decision making depending upon man to
man place to place will vary. A purchase that is a wife's decision in one
family may be a husband's decision in another and a joint decision in
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third. How does one cope with this problem? A two step procedure is a
possibility. The first stage units are families; within each family the
decision maker is identified. The units of the problem universe are the
DMU's. Any compromise research universe must be evaluated against
that concept, including the possibility that the DMU is a group. The
following example from marketing will clarify the concepts.

The specification of the appropriate DMU for industrial products is more

difficult than it is for consumer products. The number of persons who
have potential involvement is greater. Job designations do not have the
same meaning for all organisations. Responsibilities for ultimate
decisions vary with size of organization, organizational structure,
philosophy of decentralization, plus the personalities involved. The
question is further complicated by the fact that some characteristics of
interest refer to the organization-for example, size, geographic location,
and past purchases-while others, such as preferences education, and
attitudes, uniquely refer to specific individuals.

The problem definition, whether for a consumer product or an industrial

product, must specify the units of analysis. It is better to err at this
stage by specifying conceptually correct units that pose difficult
problems in implementations. Compromises in the transition to
operational definitions can then be better evaluated. This approach
also permits the possibility of using different procedures with different
market segments or a multistage approach in identifying the relevant
DMU's.

(b) Type I & II Error: Decision making as hypotheses testing is a two-

step process with error possibilities at each step. At step one there is
the relationship between the states. of nature and the action
recommended. The percentage of adults in the audience may not be a
proper guide to action. The number of adults may be better guide.
Rupee value expenditure in the product category may be still better. At
step two there is the possibility that the research result may be
erroneous with respect to the state of nature. The sample may indicate
that the percentage of adults in the audience is less than 10 %. Or the
opposite error may occur. Research procedures do not yield certainty
with respect to the true state of nature. No matter how careful we are,
we may conclude that HO is true when H1 is true or vice versa. This
fact means the decision maker and the researcher must evaluate the
seriousness of different kinds of errors. The seriousness of the errors
can be appraised only in terms of the actions that will be

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recommended. No harm occurs until the conclusions have an impact

on what the firm does.

The following table presents the general situation with two possible
states of nature and two alternative actions. Assuming the relationship
between the two states of nature and the two action is valid, no error
occurs if we conclude that HO is true and it is true; similarly, no errors
occur if we conclude that Hl is true and it is true. Errors occur in each of
the other cells.

(c) Latin Square design: In the randomized complete block design,

the effect of a single factor was removed. It is occasionally possible to
remove .the effects of two factors simultaneously in the same
experiment by using the Latin Square design. In order to use the Latin
square design, however, it is necessary to assume that no interaction
exists between the treatment effect and either block effect. In addition,
the number of treatments must be equal to the number of categories
for each of the two factors. We might, for instance, wish to test four
detergents, using four methods of application, at four hospitals. A 4 x 4
Latin square design could then be employed, using each detergent
exactly once with each method and exactly once in each hospital. The
assignment of detergent could be made as shown in the following
table; the roman numeral in the ith row and jth column indicates the
detergent that will be used by the ith application method in the jth
hospital. As assigned in the following table, the first detergent is used
in hospital 1 by method 1, in hospital 2 by method 4, in hospital 3 by
method 3, and in hospital 4 by method 2. Only 16 observations are
needed because of the balanced arrangement used and because of
the assumption of no interaction.

Latin Square design Hospital Number

1 2 3 4

1 I II III IV

2 II III IV I

3 III IV I II
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4 IV I II III

(d) Copy reading of the reports preparation: The copy reader's

symbols are used for instructing the typist or secretary. But the proof
reading symbols are used for instructing the printer. Some symbols are
common. But the symbols for proof reading are more than for copy
reading.